Needs a bank loan to improve his financial position
20-2-2008 | IslamWeb
Question:
assalamualaikum, thank you for giving us the chance to ask about fatwa. kindly pay attention to the fact that my inquiry is a bit complicated and needs to be examined in depth as it involves a dicision affecting both principles and career. -i live and work in cyprus since 1985. -i intend to develop a piece of land that i have. -i am a building contractor and an architect. on the other hand... -i have no money to start my project. -i do not have anything else what so ever other than this specific land (to sell and use money to invest). -there are no islamic banks in this country. -i am in desperate need of money to begin my project but... -banks (which happen to be the only logical and reasonable source of financial support) in this part of the world take interest (fa'eda) which is prohibited. -the system of "murabaha" is not available around here. -if an investor is found who maybe willing to invest money and become a partner, he or she will demand a very big share of the prophit reaching 50% which is not a fair cut nor a wise decision from my side (if compared to banks. what is possible to do in my case and how is it possible for me to develop my self if such constraints exist. please advise as soon as possible. thank you for your concern and cooperation.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
We start our answer from where you stopped. You should know that the essence of wisdom is to fear Allaah and abide by His Limits. Anyone who fears Allaah, will be led –thanks to this fear –to much good. Therefore, you should bear this meaning in mind while thinking how to improve your living situation. You should know that if Allaah does not enable a person to do good, his fate will be failure in this world and the Hereafter. It is only by fearing Allaah and refraining from His Prohibitions and fulfilling His Obligations that a person becomes successful. Allaah Says (what means): {And whoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out from every difficulty. And He will provide him from sources he never could imagine.}[Quran 65: 2-3]
Therefore, it is not permissible to borrow money with Riba (interest and/or usury) in order to trade or invest. Riba is one of the grave major sins and it is only permissible in cases of dire necessity. The necessity is when a pubescent reaches the extent that if he does not consume what is forbidden, he would be subjecting himself to death or nearly so. This is, of course, something which does not apply to the case of borrowing money in order to improve your circumstances and have more money.
Therefore, it is forbidden for you to borrow money with Riba.